How Uniqlo’s £15 crossbody bag conquered the world

In this week's newsletter: It wasn't the catwalk or even influencers that made this the bestselling bag of 2022 – it was good old-fashioned word of mouth

We’ve had the Fendi baguette and Bottega Veneta's pouch – but this season's it-bag comes from the high street rather than a designer store.

Retailing for £14.90, a banana shaped bag dubbed "the round mini" has become Uniqlo's bestselling bag of all time, selling out seven times in the last 18 months according to the company.

Made of nylon, it is available in 10 colours and can be worn on the shoulder or crossbody style. Measuring 28cm x 17cm, it is deceptively small – a crucial part of its appeal.

Originally released in April 2022, the bag first went viral when TikTok user @caitlinphilimore posted a 43-second video of herself unpacking her belongings from it. They included: a tin of lip balm, a packet of biscuits, a wallet, keys, phone charger, hair clip, over-ear headphones, a camera, a bottle of perfume and her EpiPen. It's been watched over 700,000 times.

Just one year later and the hashtag #uniqlobag has more than 80m views, with hundreds of thousands of people uploading similar videos. "Two T-shirts, a bottle of water, a power bank, a disposable camera, sunglasses and a pair of trousers for a festival," quips one user. "A 400ml bottle of body moisturiser, shaving foam, mouthguard cleaner, gloves, wallet, purse, hand sanitiser, tissues, hair clip, a brownie, a spork, hand cream, lip balm, AirPods, hair ties and keys," says another, holding each item up the camera.

Online it has been dubbed "the Mary Poppins carryall", due to its seemingly magical ability to never run out of room.

For many seasons, bags seem to have been restricted to two sizes: extra large tote bags that should come with a shoulder injury warning, or teeny-tiny mini bags that you can barely fit a lipstick in. The Uniqlo bag rebels against both of these norms.

While Succession's Tom might be horrified by the idea of a "ludicrously capacious" bag (see Fashion Statements passim), for those without a driver on call a bag that can hold a "monstrous" amount of stuff is a fashion boon. Another practical bonus is it leaves your hands free, so you can walk and text.

The Uniqlo bag riffs on Prada's 90s nylon bags which were reissued in 2020. Dubbed the Re-edition Re-Nylon, the new collection coincided with both the resurgence of Y2K style and lockdown where everyone became heightened about what their hands were touching and needed a bag big enough for a bottle of sanitiser. The fashion search engine Lyst declared the mini bag from the collection the bestselling bag of 2022 – the same year Uniqlo launched its take.

Others who have been quick to emulate its design include luxury brands such as Lemaire and The Row, alongside more affordable labels including Arket, Cos and Mango.

But it's the Uniqlo version that has been dubbed the "millennial Birkin" by fashion insiders, many of whom were spotted using it during fashion week.

This banana shape hasn't always been so ubiquitous, however. It wasn't until the 1960s that the first modern bumbag made an appearance. It was first created by an Australian woman, Melba Stone, who is said to have been inspired by kangaroo pouches.

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In the 1990s, the style was embraced by both hip-hop culture and the rave scene, with both groups looking for a bag that allowed them to dance hands-free, and perhaps carry some illicit substances, too. It was during this time it earned the moniker "hash bag". Nowadays at festivals crossbody bags from Nike are as common as denim cutoffs.

Andrew Groves, a professor of fashion at the University of Westminster says they have been part of the language of menswear for over a decade. The fact that the style has now been appropriated by the mainstream says a lot about the power of internet culture. Just this week I’ve seen them slung across the chests of commuters on crammed public transport, on teenagers mooching around shopping centres, on dog walkers in the park, mums on the school run and students on a night out.

"What I find intriguing is not the design of the bag, but how it is worn," says Groves. "It has military overtones and signals to others that you are unconcerned with the flippancies of fashion, and more concerned with having an endless litany of supplies immediately at hand."

Uniqlo hasn't used celebrities or even paid influencers to endorse it – its popularity has been driven organically by user-generated content. These videos play on the trend for unboxing, a phenomenon first seen on YouTube in the 2010s whereby users enraptured viewers by taking them through the process of opening packages. Uniqlo told the Guardian that sales of the bag "increased dramatically off the back of the TikTok effect and continued to grow throughout the summer and winter months as this item continues to trend".

In an era where social currency is king, the bag has the potential to turn anyone into an influencer. Who needs an official stunt bag such JW Anderson's pigeon or Moschino's sand bucket when you can get one that can hold all your belongings – and maybe even a rotisserie chicken – for less than £15?

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